The  Plague 


of 


Kaiserdom 


o 


By  WILLIAM  V.  COWAN 

State  Chairman,  "Four -Minute  Me 


2 


Issued    Under   the   Auspices   of 

THE   STATE   COUNCIL   OF    DEFENSE 

Sacramento,  California 

February  15,  1918 


California  State  Printing  Office 

Sacramento 

1918 


THE  PLAGUE  OF  KAISERDOM. 


Not  many  years  ago  the  world  was  congratu- 
lating itself  on  having  emerged  from  the  Dark 
Ages;  much  was  said  about  the  abolition  of  war; 
peace  palaces  were  built,  and  every  crowd  gave 
its  applause  at  the  mention  of  a  world-wide 
brotherhood. 

The  Story  of  the  Past  had  been  written  in  the 
terms  of  human  misery  and,  as  it  had  been  told 
and  retold,  we  turned  the  pages  indifferently. 
Hungry  lions  devouring  men  and  women  in  the 
arena;  Nero  playing  his  harp  happily  while 
Rome  burned;  the  human  sacrifices  to  Baal; 
the  rack,  the  ordeals,  witchcraft,  the  savagery 
of  redskins ;  all  these  were  taught  in  school  only 
as  mere  matters  of  history. 

There  were  also  tales  of  the  ancient  ferocity 
of  the  Germans.  How  they  had  drunk  human 
blood  from  human  skulls  and  how  they  had  car- 
ried oft  captive  women  into  the  Black  Forests. 

But  that,  too,  was  mere  history.  It  did  not 
concern  us  much.  We  boasted  of  our  wondrous 
civilization;  how  human  nature  had  improved, 


and  we  said  that  if  in  the  remote  possibility  of 
things  there  should  be  a  war,  it  would  be  a 
humane  war. 

Had  not  all  nations  signed  a  contract  to  this 
effect?1  Was  there  not  honor  among  nations — 
particularly  great  civilized  nations? 

And  so  we  built  our  Peace  Palaces,  basked  in 
the  sun — most  of  us — and  smoked  our  pipes  of 
contentment. 

Particularly  did  we  so  in  America.  Yet,  not- 
withstanding our  own  good  feeling  toward  man- 
kind, the  thunder  cloud  rolled  across  Belgium 
and  into  France,  across  Poland  and  into  Russia, 
across  Serbia  and  into  Asia.  But  we  heeded  it 
not.  We  looked  on  in  bewildered  apathy  as  if 
ira/ing  at  an  intense  panorama  in  a  moving  pic- 
ture house.  And  so  some  of  us  continued  to 
count  our  shekels  and  reach  out  for  more ;  others 
looked  on  indifferently  and  said:  It  is  not  our 
affair. 


And^then  there  came  a  day  when  the  Lusitania 
and  those  other  ships  were  sent  deep  into  the 
sea.  We  looked  up  from  our  pipes  for  a  moment, 
said  a  few  naughty  words,  listened  to  weak  apol- 
ogies, and  then  returned  again  to  our  pipes. 

The  tinkle  of  coins,  the  ease  of  luxury,  the 
complacent  knowledge  of  latent  power,  the 
worryless  contentment  of  peace  at  any  price, 
lulled  us  into  drowsy  indifference. 


'Regulations  of  The  Hague. 
(  4  ) 


Now  and  then,  for  a  short  afternoon,  we 
would  strut  about  with  our  swagger-stick,  and 
believe  that  we  had  frightened  the  lawless  ones. 

Hut  a  plague  is  a  plague.  A  malignant  dis- 
ease can  not  be  driven  away  by  rhetoric  or 
Fourth  of  July  speeches. 

For  a  decade  and  more  Prussian  writers  and 
army  men  wrote  of  the  unkind  things  that 
they  would  some  day  do  to  the  rest  of  the  world. 
With  cynical  frankness  Bernhardi  proclaimed 
the  ultimate  crushing  of  the  British  and  the 
French  ;  proclaimed  that  might  is  right  ;  that  war 
is  justifiable  and  is  smiled  upon  by  Providence.2 
Others  brazenly  spoke  of  the  time  when  Germany 
would  subdue  and  plunder  America.  But  in  the 
main  such  preachments  fell  on  deaf  ears. 

'  '  The  desire  for  peace  has  rendered  most  civ- 
ilized nations  anemic,  and  marks  a  decay  of 
spirit  and  political  courage,"  said  Bernhardi.3 

."Woe  and  death  unto  those  who  oppose  my 
will.  Death  to  the  infidel  who  denies  my  mis- 
sion. Let  ;ill  the  enemies  of  the  German  nation 
perish.  God  demands  their  destruction," 
said  Kaiser  AVilliam  II.4 

"Bismarck  would  have  never  made  the  mis- 
take of  asking  for  his  country  ;i  military  equip- 
ment sufficiently  powerful  to  (i^lil  England, 


"Germany  and   the  Next   War,"   by   F.   von    Bernhardi, 
912 

'"Germany  and  the  Next  War,"  page  17. 
4"Out  of  Their  Own  Mouths,     page  4. 


1912 


(  5  ) 


Prance  and  the  Slav  masses,  only  to  keep  it 
unemployed  during  long  years  of  peace,"  said 
Maximilian  Harden  in  1913. 

"Of  late  years  we  (tcrmans  have  had  cause 
for  political  irritation  with  the  United  States, 
due  largely  to  commercial  reasons"  .  .  . 

"The  question  for  us  to  consider  is  what 
plans  must  eventually  be  developed  to  put  a 
stop  to  the  overreachings  by  the  United  States 
which  are  detrimental  to  our  interests.  It  is 
by  armed  action  that  we  must  ultimately  en- 
force our  will  upon  that  country,"  wrote  Baron 
von  Edelsheim  in  1901. 5 


And  then  the  Baron  went  on  to  tell  how  it 
should  be  accomplished.  Among  other  things  he 
would  seize  Atlantic  seaports  and  levy  upon 
them  heavy  war  contributions. 

In  fact,  German  military  and  naval  men  fre- 
quently and  frankly  boasted  of  plans  to  subdue 
England,  France  and  America.  "In  our  next 
war,  'World  power  or  downfall!'  will  be  our 
rallying  cry,"  said  Bernhardi.6 


At  all  this  France  looked  on  unbelievingly; 
England  turned  up  her  nose  in  contempt;  Amer- 
i°  ,-i  LTJIVO  an  extra  quarter  to  the  fiddler,  heaped 
In •)•  banquet  plates  and  danced  merrily  to  the 
;1  didn't  raise  inv  bov  to  be  a  soldier." 


""Out  of  Their  Own  Mouths,"  page  80. 
•See,  also,  "Gems  (?)  of  German  Thought,"  by  William 
Archer. 


(6) 


But  it  happened.     It  happened. 

It  was  a  sunny  day  in  a  sunny  month. 

The  French  were  busy  with  their  fashions. 
In  Paris  there  was  revelry  and  song. 

The  Belgians  toiled  in  their  fields  in  innocent 
happiness  and  content.  In  Brussels  they  made 
their  lace. 

The  English  fox-hunted  in  sportive  chase. 
From  Liverpool  ships  pursued  the  commerce  of 
peace.  From  Manchester  there  was  a  ceaseless 
Ho\v  of  the  implements  of  peace. 


*But  it  happened. 

Like  a  thief  in  the  night,  when  his  powder- 
house  was  filled,  the  Kaiser  touched  the  match. 


In  a  Serbian  village,  a  degenerate  son  of  Haps- 
burg  was  assassinated.  There  is  strong  belief  it 
was  by  German  intrigue. 

But  any  excuse  will  do  when  an  excuse  is 
needed. 


Then  came  the  interminable  tramp  of  Prussian 
troops. 

All  day  long  and  all  night  long. 
Tramp,  tramp,  a  ceaseless  tramp. 


(7  ) 


And  then,  out  of  the  tumult  and  noise  of 
battle,  beyond  the  dugout  and  the  screech  of 
shell,  came  the  agonizing  cry  of  noncombatants. 

There  were  stories  of  debauchery,  of  rape  and 
of  murder — stories  of  cities  and  towns  being 
wiped  from  the  earth — hellish  stories  of  hellish 
scenes. 


France  doubtfully  investigated. 

England  disbelieved. 

America  laughed  at  the  very  idea. 


But  the  proofs  came  thick  and  fast.  Affidavit 
upcn  affidavit  were  filed  in  government  archives. 
Judicial  testimony  was  taken.  Voluminous 
diaries  of  German  soldiers  were  collected. 
Bryrr  and  men  of  like  character  were  selected 
to  make  investigations.  Neutral  visitors  wrote 
and  talked.7 

And  too,  there  were  those  that  escaped  across 
the  fields  of  liquid-fire — wounded  men  and 
maimed  women,  prisoners  and  priests,  nurses 
and  nuns  and  children. 

And  the  stories  were  the  same. 

"In  Christian  countries  murder  is  a  gravi- 
crime;  amongst  a  people  where  blood-ven- 
ircanci-  is  a  sa<-n-<l  duty  it  c;m  be  regarded  as  a 
moral  act.  and  its  nculiM-t  as  a  crime,"  Avrote 
Bernlianli  in  1912.8 


'See  "The  Deportation  of  Women  and  Girls  from  Lille," 
by  the  French  Government. 

«"Germany  and  the  Next  War,"  page  3. 

(8) 


' '  The  German  people  is  always  right,  because 
it  is  the  German  people.  Our  fathers  have  left 
us  much  to  do,"  wrote  Von  Tannenberg  in 
1911.9 

"Be  as  terrible  as  the  Huns  under  Attila," 
said  the  Kaiser  to  his  soldiers  a  few  years  be- 
fore the  war.10 


And  so  churches  were  profaned,  priests  mur- 
dered, boys  driven  into  exile,  women-folk  handed 
over  to  the  lust  of  licentious  soldiery,  homes 
burned  and  destroyed,  towns  and  cities  oblit- 
erated. 

History  reveals  no  greater  savagery.  Not  in 
darkest  Africa  or  the  pioneer  forests  of 
America. 


"As  the  German  troops  passed  through  the 
communes  and  towns  of  the  arrondissements  of 
Ypres.  ITaxebrouck,  Bethune  and  Lille,  they  shot 
indiscriminately  at  the  innocent  spectators  of 
their  march;  the  peasant  tilling  his  fields,  the 
refugee  tramping  the  roads,  and  the  workman 
returning  to  his  home.  *  *  *  Old  men  and  boys, 
and  even  women  and  young  girls  were  shot  like 
rabbits."11 


'"Out  of  Their  Own  Mouths,"  page  79. 

'°/rf.  Proclamation. 

""German  Atrocities"  by  J  H  Morgan.  See,  also  "The 
Crimes  of  Germany,"  issued  by  the  London  Field ;  also, 
"Germany's  Violations  of  the  Laws  of  "War,"  issued  by  the 
French  Government. 


(  9  ) 


People  in  hiding  in  the  cellars  of  houses  have 
heard  the  voices  of  women  in  the  hands  of  Ger- 
man soldiers  crying  all  night  long  until  death 
or  stupor  ended  their  agonies.12 

Living  screens  of  priests,  old  men,  and  women 
with  babes  at  the  breast  were  thrust  between 
German  troops  and  the  enemy.13 

"Soft-hearted  men  put  the  French  wounded 
out  of  their  misery  with  bullets;  the  others  hew 
and  stab  whenever  they  can  *  *  *  but  whether 
they  are  slightly  or  mortally  wounded,  our  brave 
musketeers  save  the  Fatherland  the  costly  care 
of  numerous  enemies."1* 

A  hairdresser  was  murdered  in  his  kitchen 
win-re  he  was  sitting  with  a  child  on  each  knee.15 

Priests  in  particular  were  insulted  by  the  sold- 
iers who  cried  incessantly,  "Down  with  Cathol- 
icism !  Death  to  Priests !  All  priests  should  be 
shot!"16 

Twenty-five  priests  were  held  as  prisoners  in 
one  place  and  continually  insulted  by  guards. 


12"German  Atrocities,"  page  89. 

""German  Atrocities,"  page  43.  (Reported  by  France 
and  Britain.) 

"German  officer  in  newspaper  article  "Out  of  Their  O\vn 
.Mouths,"  page  191. 

"Bryce  Report,  page  15. 

""The  Germans  In  Belgium,"  by  L.  II.  Grondys,  page  24. 

(  10  ) 


At  another  place  two  priests  were  made  to  pump 
water  tAvo  hours  for  a  company  of  soldiers;  an- 
other was  hung  three  times  and  left  for  dead.17 


A  young  Jesuit  prirst  of  Belgium  \\Tote  in  his 
note  book: 

"AVhen  formerly  I  read  that  the  Huns 
under  Attila  had  devastated  towns,  and  that 
the  Arabs  had  burnt  the  Library  of  Alex- 
andria. I  smiled.  Now  that  I  have  seen  with 
my  own  eyes  the  hordes  of  today,  burning 
cli arches  and  the  celebrated  Library  of  Lou- 
vain,  I  smile  no  longer." 

In  punishment  therefor  lie  was  shot  in  the 
presence  of  thirty  priest  prisoners  Avho  were 
made  to  watch  his  death  agony.18 


At  Andenne,  Belgium,  after  placing  her  hus- 
band close  to  a  machine  gun  and  shooting 
through  him.  soldiers  ransacked  the  wife's  home, 
piled  up  all  eatables  in  a  heap  on  the  floor  and 
relieved  themselves  upon  it.1'1 


At  Malines  one  witness  saw  a  German  soldier 
cut  a  woman's  breasts  after  he  had  murdered  her, 
and  saw  many  other  dead  bodies  of  women  in  the 
streets.20 

17"The  Germans  in  Belgium,"  by  L.  H.  Grondys,  page  27. 
1s"The  Germans  in  Belgium,"  by  L.  H.  Grondys,  page  89. 
"Bryce  Report,  page  15. 
-"Bryce  Report,  page  25. 

(  ID 


"I  am  sending:  you  a  bracelet  made  out  of  a 
piece  of  a  shell,"  wrote  a  Bavarian  soldier  to  his 
betrothed.  "This  will  be  a  fine  souvenir  of  a 
German  warrior,  who  has  gone  through  the  whole 
campaign  and  has  killed  heaps  of  Frenchmen.  I 
have  also  bayoneted  a  good  number  of  women. 
During  the  battle  of  Budonwiller,  I  did  away 
with  four  women  and  seven  young  girls  in  five 
minutes.  The  captain  had  told  me  to  shoot  these 
French  sows,  but  I  preferred  to  run  my  bayonet 
through  them."21 

At  Boort  Meerbeek,  a  German  soldier  was  seen 
to  fire  three  times  at  a  little  girl  of  five  years  old. 
Having  failed  to  hit  her.  he  subsequently  bay- 
oneted her,  but  was  himself  killed  with  the  butt- 
end  of  a  rifle  in  the  hands  of  a  Belgian  soldier 
who  from  a  distance  had  seen  him  commit  the 
deed.22 


At  llaecht  a  child  of  two  or  three  years  old 
was  found  nailed  to  the  door  of  a  farmhouse  by 
its  hands  and  feet.23 

Near  Malines  a  German  soldier  thrust  his  bay- 
onet through  a  suckling  child  after  having  killed 
its  father  and  mother,  then  put  his  rifle  on  his 
shoulder  with  the  child  on  it.  "Its  little  arms 
stretched  out  once  or  twice,"  said  a  witness.24 


"Letter   of   Bavarian   soldier   to  his  betrothed,    "Out  of 
Their  Own  Mouths,"  page   195. 
-Bryce  Report,  page  27. 
^Bryce  Report,  page  '28. 
:4Bryce  Report,  page  25. 

(  12  ) 


The  village  of  Lienden  was  fired  because  one  of 
the  inhabitants  killed  a  German  soldier.  The 
latter,  along  with  a  companion,  had  violated  a 
young  girl  after  tying  her  parents  to  chairs.  The 
father  freed  himself  from  his  bonds,  seized  a  gun, 
and  slew  one  of  the  aggressors.  The  German 
officers  ordered  fire  set  to  the  house,  and  the  par- 
ents of  the  young  girl,  bound  again  to  their 
chairs,  perished  in  the  flames.25 

A  Sister  of  Mercy,  wearing  the  sign  of  the  Red 
Cross,  was  seized  by  the  Germans  and  Austrians 
on  the  Russian  front,  beaten  with  swords  and 
pricked  with  needles  because  she  refused  to  give 
information  regarding  the  Russians,  and  was 
later  lodged  with  lustful  German  officers.20 


' '  A  private  of  my  regiment  and  I  in  searching 
for  doors  for  a  roof  for  our  dugout  in  a  shell- 
ridden  cottage  in  the  vicinity  of  Ypres  which  was 
recently  vacated  by  German  soldiers,  on  entering 
the  kitchen  saw  a  woman  dead  in  an  upright  posi- 
tion, her  two  hands,  one  on  top  of  the  ether, 
nailed  to  the  wall.  On  a  lamp  hook  hanging 
from  the  ceiling  was  a  boy  about  three  or  three 
and  a  half  years  of  age.  The  hook  had  been  run 
through  the  back  of  his  neck.  The  body  was 
covered  with  blood  which  indicated  he  was 
hanged  there  during  life.  No  other  wound  was 

""The  Germans  in  Belgium,"  by  L.  H.  Grondys,  page  24. 
^"German  Atrocities,"  page  88. 

(13) 


on  the  child  or  woman.  Both  had  been  dead 
apparently  sonic  time.  This  occurred  ;d>out 
April  22,1915."" 

"German  military  usage  has  methods  also  of 
dealing  with  children.  They  have  little  hands 
that  are  delightfully  easy  to  cut  off.  Their  feet 
are  barely  attached  to  their  legs  at  all.  M.  Le 
Senateur  Henry  Lafontaine— Nobel  prizeman 
and  famed  for  moderation  and  pacifism — has  tes- 
tified in  public  meeting  that  children's  nostrils 
and  children's  ears  have  been  burnt  with  the 
flaring  stumps  of  lighted  cigars."28 

"The  scene  is  a  country-house  near  Antwerp. 
A  merchant  of  the  city  has  chosen  to  remain  in 
his  home,  with  his  two  daughters,  aged  respec- 
tively twenty  and  seventeen  years.  Both  are 
beautiful,  with  that  placidly  joyful  beauty  that 
has  distinguished  Flemish  women  from  the  time 
of  Rubens  onwards.  After  the  fall  of  Antwerp, 
the  Germans  spread  about  the  neighborhood  and 
several  officers  quarter  themselves  on  the  mer- 
chant, who  has  had  the  rash  courage  to  stay  on 
in  his  country  house.  Being  a  man  of  means  he 
receives  them  with  all  the  hospitality  possible. 
The  most  comfortable  bedrooms  are  given  up  to 
them;  for  the  first  evening  an  abundant  dinner 
is  prepared.  Five  German  officers  sit  down  to 


"Sergt.  Albert  Goads  of  British  Army  at  San   Francisco 
in  IKter  to  author. 

*»"  Belgium's  Agony,"  page  32. 

(  14  ) 


i  his  nif.-il.  ;it  which  there  is  every  promise  of 
pli'iitit'ul  wine  as  well  as  food,  ("nfoi-lnnately, 
however,  drunkenness  can  not  he  pleaded  in  their 
defense.  llefore  the  feast  begins  at  all,  the  Ger- 
man captain,  the  oldest  and  senior  officer  of  the 
five,  orders  the  owner  of  the  house  to  be  thrust 
into  his  own  cellar,  and  the  door  guarded  by  two 
sentinels  with  loaded  rifles  and  instructions  to 
shoot,  if  necessary. 

This  precaution  having  been  taken,  the  two 
girls  are  commanded  by  the  revellers  to  undress. 
They  protest,  resist,  implore.  All  in  vain.  As 
answer  to  their  prayers  the  captain  orders  some 
of  his  men  to  strip  them  naked  and  hold  them 
during  the  meal  before  the  leering  eyes  of  the 
diners.  At  last,  sated  with  eating  and  pleas- 
ingly drunk,  the  savages,  before  the  amused  eyes 
of  the  common  soldiers,  themselves  reeling  with 
drink,  take  the  two  poor  children  for  their 
amusement.  You  will  forgive  me  for  not  repro- 
ducing here  the  further  details  quoted  by  the 
[Minister  of  War.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  when, 
the  following  morning,  the  merchant  was  set  free 
from  his  prison,  his  daughters  had  been  handed 
over  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  common  sold- 
iery.  One  had  gone  raving  mad;  the  other  has 
sine,-  killed  herself  in  shame  and  grief."29 

This  last,  s;iys  Yerhaeren.  is  the  German  pro- 
cedure for  women  who  are  not  pledged  to  marry. 

-""Bel  si  urn's   AK<>".V,"  pages   30-31. 
(  15  ) 


And  so  on  in  Belgium  almost  ad  finitcm. 
And  so  on  in  Belgium  ad  nauseam. 


In  that  lovable  land  the  Kaiser  smeared  the 
pastoral  scenes  with  red  in  late  summer — with 
burnt-umber  in  early  autumn.  There  are  vol- 
umes and  volumes  telling  the  horrid  details.  It 
makes  one's  blood  pressure  go  up.  No  wonder 
the  wounded  boys  in  France  fret  to  return  to  the 
battle  front. 


And  thereafter — thereafter ! 

— After  these  scenes  of  butchery  and  pillage 
and  debauchery  came 

— Starvation  !     Deportation  !     Slavery ! 

— Perhaps  the  little  babe  on  the  bayonet's  end 
was  happier  after  all. 

In  June,  the  Belgian  peasant  smilingly  began 
to  save  his  mite  for  the  Christmas  to  come. 

In  December  on  a  cattle  car  he  was  carried  off 
into  Saxony. 

— Breathing  the  air  of  freedom  in  June — a 
slave  in  December. 


But  it  is  useless  to  try  to  describe  it  all.  The 
pen  falls  helplessly.  Vocabularies  are  inade- 
quate. History  records  nothing  like  this;  hence 
there  are  no  words  to  fit,  no  phrases  that  fully 
apply. 

(16) 


But  this  is  only  Belgium. 

And  still  there  is  Northern  France ! 

And  Poland  and  West  Russia! 

And  Serbia ! 

And  Armenia! 


In  Poland  there  was  systematic  starvation  of 
a  mighty  people ;  also,  a  coal  famine  scientifically 
produced  with  German  precision. 

Coal  famines  make  cold  homes.  Cold  homes 
breed  tuberculosis. 

— And  Prussia  has  found  tuberculosis  a  useful 
implement  with  which  to  eliminate  undesired  in- 
habitants of  conquered  provinces.  It  saves 
powder,  does  not  dull  bayonets,  and  is  more 
scientific. 

And  so,  it  is  said  that  in  Poland  there  are  no 
children  under  seven  years. 


And    then   there    are    other   stories — many — 
many ! 

— Horrid,  horrid  tales  of  Pan-Germanism. 


Tn  West  Russia  the  peasants  and  all  fled 
before  the  German  advance. 

All  day  long;  all  night  long;  wearily,  wearily 
they  traveled  eastward. 

On  foot,  by  wagon,  or  horse. 

The  procession  moving  no  one  knew  whither. 

(17) 


"Info  llic  unknown,*'  says  Doroshevitch, 

"Silently,  al)ovc  ;ill. 

The  over-wearied  horses  do  not  shy  when 
motor  cars  pass  them.  They  do  not  even  pi-iek 
up  their  ears. 

And  the  dogs  don't  bark. 

The  people  in  the  carts  do  not  talk. 
— They  have  said  all  they've  got  to  say. 

They  move  like  gray  shadows,  like  the  dead. 

The  peasant  women  are  silent. 

Even  the  children  do  not  cry. 

At  the  relief  points,  where  thousands  of 
people  are  gathered  together,  you  are  im- 
pressed by  the  silence. 

What  a  silent  country  it  is! 

You  can  go  for  tens  and  for  hundreds  of 
versts — and  still  meet  an  almost  uninterrupted 
stream  of  grey  carts. 

Like  a  series  of  spectres. 

And  silent,  silent,  silent. 

Nothing  but  hopeless  boredom  and  grief  in 
their  eyes. 

Weary  and  indifferent  faces,  as  of  convicts 
being  marched  along  the  road. 

And  only  by  the  new  white  wooden  crosses 
along  the  side  of  the  road  can  you  see  how 
much  suffering  has  silently  passed  there.  *  *  * 

Along  this  'Way  of  the  Cross'  takes  place 
— A  selection. 

A  terrible  'natural'  selection. 

All  the  weak  ones  perish. 

Both  of  people  and  cattle. 

They  are  tried  by  sickness,  hunger  and  cold. 

From  Baranovitch  to  Bobruisk,   from   Bob- 
ruisk   by    way   of    Dovsk   to    Koslavl.    and    in 
Uoslavl,  all  the  weak  ones  remain  behind."1" 
""The  Way  of  th.-  Cross,"  1>>    V.    I  >..r,.sli.--vit<-h. 


Hut  what;  is  tin:  use  ol'  multiplying  tales  of 
horror.'  Why  a<j,urava1e  Hie  bitterness  of  feel- 
in. ir/  Why  rake  over  (he  oft'al  and  liuinaii  debris 
in  the  Prussian  path? 

There  is  a  reason. 

In  America  there  is  a  special  reason. 

Here  we  have  hardly  begun  to  realize  it  all. 
The  horse-laugh  of  unbelief  has  barely  died  from 
our  lips. 

For  a  time,  when  we  were  watchfully  waiting, 
insidious  propaganda  raised  a  doubt. 

It  is  reason  enough. 

But  there  is  another  why  and  wherefore. 

Public  opinion  !     AVorld-wide  public  opinion ! 

"We  should  be  informed.  Speakers,  public 
servants — men,  women  and  children  should 
know. 

For  the  sake  of  Posterity,  we  should  know. 

"It  is  a  safeguard  against  a  relapse  to 
barbarism,"  says  Mr.  Bryce.  "Spread  the 
knowledge  so  that  war  will  become  even  a 
greater  curse  in  the  minds  of  men." 

Our  children  and  their  children  should  know. 
— Should  be  taught  to  shrink  from  the  plague. 
— And  thus,  perhaps,  prevent  a  recurrence. 
And  too,  they  who  stay  at  home  should  know 
what  manner  of  foe  our  boys  go  forth  to  fight. 

Hut  mainly,  if  these  stories  do  not  move  you — 
you  and  each  of  you— to  a  resolute  purpose  to 

(  19  ) 


bend  every  thought  and  every  act  toward  blot- 
ting the  origin  of  this  plague  from  the  face  of 
the  earth,  then  the  telling  perhaps  has  been 

useless. 


But  the  deed  can  not  be  done  by  words  or  by 
noise,  or  by  a  false  sense  of  security,  or  by  an 
exaggerated  idea  of  American  valor,  or  by  list- 
lessly leaving  the  matter  to  Fate,  or  by  boasting 
of  what  we  have  already  done  in  this  war,  or  by 
singing  "Over  There,"  or  by  serving  on  com- 
mittees at  noon  and  attending  Hooverized  ban- 
quets at  night,  or  by  reading  about  Molly  Stark 
and  Barbara  Frietchie,  or  alone  by  buying  Lib- 
erty Bonds,  or  by  marching  in  parades,  or  by 
having  war  bread  and  a  meatless  meal  only  when 
we  invite  our  friends  in,  or  by  saluting  the  flag 
or  standing  when  the  band  plays  "The  Star 
Spangled  Banner,"  or  by  following  numerous 
fads  and  fancies,  or  by  shutting  our  eyes  to  the 
truth,  or  by  believing  every  report  of  a  riot  or 
revolution  in  the  enemy's  country. 

— For  remember,  the  enemy  hears  like  tales  of 
riot  and  revolution  in  your  country. 

And  remember,  too,  thus  far  Germany  is  the 
victor  in  this  war. 

For  two  years  and  more  she  has  had  forty 
millions  of  people  working  for  her  as  slaves.31 

Peace  today  means  a  Prussian  victory.  Peace 
today  will  endanger  American  freedom  of  to- 
morrow. 

31Major  G.  M.  P.  Murphy,  formerly  In  charge  of  Amer- 
ican Red  Cross  inTSurope,  on  his  return  in  January,  1918. 

(  20  ) 


True  it  is  that  German  manpower  is  dimin- 
ished, that  she  has  thrown  millions  into  the  fiery 
furnace.  So  have  England  and  France. 

Regretfully,  I  fear,  so  must  we. 

How  many  must  we  sacrifice? 

That  depends  upon  how  earnestly  we  enter 
into  the  fight.  That  depends  upon  what  sacri- 
fice you  have  made — you — you  in  your  cozy  chair 
at  home  near  the  fireside. 

Have  you  begun  to  sacrifice?  If  not,  perhaps 
it  is  not  yet  too  late.  Soon  it  will  be. 

And  if  it  be  too  late,  do  you  know  what  may 
happen?  Can  you  realize ?  Do  you  understand? 
Have  you  thought  of  it  seriously? 

May  God  preserve  the  British  Navy. 

May  He  sustain  the  thin  line  at  the  Front — 
French  and  English  and  Italian  and  the  rest. 

All  Heaven  knows  we  need  them.  They  are 
protecting  America! 

They  can  not  defeat  the  Hun's  forty  years  of 
preparation — but  God  grant  that  they  can  hold 
the  line— hold  it  until  we  in  America  are  ready 
to  drive  the  hordes  back. 

But  if  this  thin  line  should  fail ! 

If  Britain  be  starved!  If  her  Navy  be 
scattered ! 

Then,  added  to  the  fifty  millions  in  Europe, 
there  may  be  the  wail  of  a  hundred  million  in 
America. 

(21) 


Impossible,  you  say  ?  Stop !  You  do  not 
know  the  truth.  You  do  not  understand.  You 
still  hear  those  flamboyant  July  orations. 

Then,  it  may  be — but  God  forbid — all  day  long 
and  all  night  long;  wearily,  wearily  Eastern 
Americans  will  travel  westward. 

- — And  then  our  churches  too  will  pray:  "0 
Lord,  remember  those  who  wake  this  morning 
under  the  open  sky." 

And  like  in  Belgium,  women  and  children  A\  ill 
.become  the  playthings  of  German  lust!:!2 

And  like  in  Poland,  there  will  be  orgaui/ed 
I'M  mi  ne  and  scientific  starvation — especially  in 
populous  centers. 

And  like  in  Belgium  and  Poland  millions  will 
become  beggars. 

And  like  in  France,  the  only  social  function 
will  be  the  meeting  to  hear  the  list  of  wounded 
and  dead,  where  the  women  folk  will  crowd  for- 
ward to  listen — and  then  some  will  drop  a  tear, 
some  will  smile  hopefully,  but  many  will  sob 
with  a  breaking  heart. 

There  will  be  insolence  that  knows  no  pity  and 
feels  no  love. 

For  the  ruthlessness,  the  contempt  for  human 
life,  the  somber  fatalism,  the  indifference  to 
personal  liberty,  the  chicanery,  the  love  of  es- 
pionage, the  brutal  bestiality  of  Prussia  will  be 
\vreMked  on  Anieriea. 


•"•2Seo  "Dor  Tag  for  Us,"  by  Samuel  Blythc  in  Saturday 
•cniny  Post,  Dec.   22,    1017. 

(  22  ) 


Can  we  hope  otherwise? 

Germany    says    she    bore    no    hatred    toward 
Belgium 
— But  look  at  the  ruins! 


"When  the  Lnsitania  wont  down,  and  the 
mothers  and  little  ones  on  it,  Germany  declared 
a  holiday  and  her  children  marched  joyously  in 
parade. 

O  the  Plague  of  Kaiserdom  !  The  Plague  of 
Kaiserdom ! 

For  a  quarter  of  a  century  this  pestilential 
knltur  germ  has  thrived  in  the  Prussian  Hot- 
house until  Germany  has  gone  mad — until  she 
has  run  amuck. 


Her  whole  people  seem  afflicted  with  the  ac- 
< -ur:sod  maladv. 


Hear  the  poet  Vierordt. 

"0  my  Germany,  into  thy  soul  thou  must  etch 
a  deep  and  terrible  hate.  .  .  .  Retribution, 
vengeance,  fury  are  demanded;  stifle  in  thy 
heart  all  human  feeling  and  hasten  to  the  fight. 

"O  Germany,  hate!  Slaughter  thy  foes  by 
the  millions  and  of  their  reeking  corpses  build 
a  monument  that  shall  reach  the  clouds. 


(23  ) 


"0  Germany,  hate  now!  Arm  thyself  in 
steel  and  pierce  with  thy  bayonet  the  heart 
of  every  foe ;  no  prisoners  !  Lock  all  their  life 
in  silence;  turn  our  neighbors'  lands  into 
deserts  .  .  .  Beat  in  their  skulls  with  rifle  butts 
and  with  axes." 


Hymns  of  Hate !  All  Germany  sings  the 
chorus 

— Even  the  children,  while  old  folk  approve. 

— Even  the  clergy  who  pronounce  a  benedic- 
tion on  blood-dripping  hands. 


Do  you  understand  what  this  means  ? 

You — you  farmers  who  dream  of  bigger  crops ; 

You  miners ;  you  workers  in  shop  and  factory ; 

You  laborers,  you  greatest  in  numbers,  who 
toil  and  sweat  and  strive  and  toil, 

— but  return  at  night  to  a  snug  nest  and  re- 
freshing sleep ; 

You  commuters  who  rush  to  your  daily  grind : 

You  women  smothered  in  feathers  and  furs, 
and  in  lace  and  linen; 

You  men  who  follow  your  bent; 

You  dreamers  of  luxurious  homes  in  days  to 
come; 

You  other  men  who  make  your  business  or  pro- 
fession your  religion  and  your  god ; 

(24) 


You  housewives  whose  daily  moil  is  never  at 
an  end; 

You  giddy  gigglers  who  skim  the  surface  and 
seldom  scratch  into  depths  below ; 

You,  all  of  you — Americans  all — 

Is  it  possible  you  can  not  or  will  not  compre- 
hend? 

Is  it  possible  that  you  do  not  realize  that  the 
boys  in  the  shell-shocked  trenches  are  fighting  for 
YOU — for  YOUR  freedom,  for  YOUR  protection? 

— For  your  right  to  work  for  a  living  wage 
instead  of  working  as  a  Prussian  slave? 

— For  your  right  to  have  your  home,  to  read 
your  paper,  to  express  your  every  thought? 

— For  your  right  even  to  enjoy  your  family 
and  to  keep  your  little  ones  playing  unharmed 
about  your  feet? 


Where  the  Prussian  blot  has  fallen,  where  the 
ITohen/ollern  has  touched  his  reeking  finger,  all 
these  little  simple  things  of  life  have  been  denied 
the  laboring  folk,  the  farmer  folk,  and  all. 


Therefore   awake!      Awake  you   farmers  and 
laboring  men,  you  housewives  and  all — Awake! 

TlIIS  IS  YOUR  FIGHT  ! 

(25) 


Awake  now !  Must  you  wait  until  the  front 
page  of  the  press  be  covered  with  red  lists  of 
dead  and  dying  before  you  see  the  peril  ? 

— Before  you  discard  the  useless  things  ? 

— Before  you  strain  every  arm  in  the  fight? 


Will  you  listen  to  words,  or  must  you  first  see 
blood? 

Will  you  heed  the  indisputable  pictures  drawn, 
or  must  you  first  look  on  the  stark,  stiff  corpses 
of  women  and  children,  of  innocent  men  run 
through,  of  soldier-prisoners  crucified  on  dugout 
doors? 

Must  it  first  be  proved  to  you  logically,  sta- 
tistically and  in  cold  judicial  reasoning? 

Where  is  the  Red  Blood  of  your  ancestry? 
Has  it  stagnated  in  your  scramble  for  greater 
ease  and  comfort? 


Until  this  danger,  this  red  risk  be  passed — 
let  us  forget  profit,  ambition,  partisanship — 
every  little  thing  that  does  not  help  to  win. 

The  boys  in  the  trenches  endure  the  ceaseless 
swarms  of  lice  and  the  sleek,  hairless,  vile- 
smelling  rats ;  they  dig  in  the  mud  through  long 
winter  months  of  homesickness  and  discomfort — 
and  still  they  smile  as  they  go.  Surely  you  and 
I — you  and  I — in  our  cushioned  chairs  and  soft 
beds  can  deny  ourselves  a  few  pleasures  in  order 
that  those  boys  shall  not  have  died  in  vain. 

(26) 


For  if  we  remain  indifferent,  if  we  hesitate 
to  sacrifice — if  we  fail  to  rush  into  the  fray,  it 
may  be  too  late. 

And  then  the  millions  of  French  and  Belgians 
and  the  others,  will  have  died  in  vain.  The  world 
will  go  back  to  the  Dark  Ages  and  human 
freedom  will  be  lost. 


The  Plague  of  Kaiserdom! 

On  the  Ganges  there  have  been  times  when 
folk  died  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands  from  the 
pestilence. 

But  the  Plague  of  Kaiserdom ! 

It  is  festering  and  festering  in  Europe. 

Calculating,  precise  and  cold-blooded; 

Subtle,  stealthy,  insidious  and  uncanny ; 

Its  cankered  poison  crept  into  the  flesh  of 
Italy ;  and  into  the  vitals  of  Russia. 


And  America  has  not  escaped. 

Insidious  propaganda,  spurious  tales,  sly 
phrases,  cunning  remarks,  rumors,  malicious  and 
mendacious,  whisperings  secret  and  subtle,  creep, 
knowingly  and  unknowingly,  into  the  press  and 
the  pulpit,  into  the  club,  the  lodge,  and  the 
home.  If  a  public  servant  be  zealous  in  his 
patriotic  work,  if  a  public  or  private  institution 
does  noble  service  in  the  fight,  then  soon  there 
are  whispers  about — • 

(27) 


Rumors,  whispers  and  rumors: 

— The  man  is  not  what  he  should  be,  or 

—The  institution  is  useless,  or 

— What's  the  use,  there  will  soon  be  peace. 

And  so  forth. 


The  base  chord  of  prejudice  and  the  high 
chord  of  passion  are  played  upon  in  every  varia- 
tion. There  are  lies  that  spring  from  nowhere. 
There  are  stories  that  can  not  be  traced. 

So  do  not  be  deceived,  you  mothers,  every  pro- 
German  statement  is  a  direct  shot  at  the  life  of 
your  boy  in  France. 


Wilhelm  has  a  great  Secret  Army  in  America. 
It  digs  in  among  the  ultra  bigots,  the  govern- 
ment-destroyer, the  greedy,  the  pacifist,  the  over- 
ambitious,  the  thoughtless — everywhere. 

As  villainous  as  the  sleek  rats  that  dig  into 
shell-craters  and  fatten  on  the  dead,  these  secret 
soldiers  of  his — not  always  his  countrymen — 
fatten  on  the  putrescence  of  dead  patriotism. 


Therefore  beware,  America!  Beware  the  plague 
of  Kaiserdom ! 

There  is  grim  business  ahead. 


(28) 


It  is  well  that  all  America  be  aroused  to  anger 

— Not  to  sing  bitter  hymns  of  hate  and  rejoiee 
in  butchery 

— But  with  anger  enough  to  go  at  this  grim 
job  with  relentless  determination. 

It  is  regrettable,  but  there  is  no  other  way. 

— For  we  can  not  toy  with  leprosy,  nor  can  we 
compromise  with  murder. 


t  29) 


000  011  551 


Date  Due 


IN  regard  to  these  essential  rectifications  of  wrong 
and  assertions  of  right  we  feel   ourselves  to  be 
intimate    partners    of    all    the    governments    and 
peoples  associated  together  against  the  imperialists. 
We  can  not  be  separated  in  interest  or  divided  in 
purpose.     We  stand  together  until  the  end. 

For  such  arrangements  and  covenants  we  are 
willing  to  fight,  and  to  continue  to  fight,  until  they 
are  achieved.  *  *  * 

The  moral  climax  of  this  culminating  and  final 
war  for  human  liberty  has  come,  and  they  (our 
United  States)  are  ready  to  put  their  own  strength, 
their  own  highest  purpose,  their  own  integrity  and 
devotion  to  the  test. 

WOODROW  WILSON, 
Message  to  Congress,  January  8,  1918. 

****** 

"I  made  the  mistake  of  my  career,  when  I  had  the 
opportunity,  that  I  did  not  remove  the  Hohenzol- 
lerns  from  the  throne  of  Prussia.  As  long  as  this 
house  reigns  and  until  the  red  cap  of  liberty  is 
erected  in  Germany,  there  will  be  no  peace  in 
Europe." 

— Napoleon  at  St.  Helena. 


